Impressions.

I blog often about friendships and relationships but what I haven’t touched on before are the day to day interactions you may not put much thought into. Each of you has a different job and certainly no two are alike but in some way most of us interact with with people on the day-to-day. Have you ever thought about how important those seemingly fleeting moments are? Throughout the course of your life you will have thousands if not millions of opportunities to make a small impact on someone.

In my current role I frequently have the moments I’m describing. As I interact with vendors, fathers, mothers, registerants, teams relations, spokesmen, etc. Some are as breif as a phone call one or twice per years. Some require many more interactions for longer periods of time. Each is a small window of opportunity to influence.

An example of what I mean is that as we all know, navigating the internet is harder for some than others. I know, because my precious Mom called me everytime she had to attach a file to an e-mail for 2 years before she could do it on her own without my step-by-step instructions. So, when I receive a phone call from a parent that wants to register for our events but can’t for the life of figure out the online system I get the opportunity to make their day a little easier. I can do for them in 5 minutes or less what for some of them would be a long and frustration process. It’s a chance to remind them that they are why we do what we do. Making someone feel important and valued doesn’t require any huge effort, it’s found in the small things.

I supposed this blog is brought on my some recent customer service experiences I have had. Some that were surprisingly pleasant and some that were not. I don’t know about you all, but I feel this fierce since of loyalty to a company when I’ve been treated well by them in a time of ‘crisis’ or ‘dilema’. A great example of this done right is Southwest Airlines. If remotely possible they are THE only airline I will fly. Why? Because whenever I have an issues with a flight they trip over themselves to help me get it right. I book a LOT of travel for myself, personally, and for work. So I’m constantly navigating the airline websites and customer service for both and a good experience means a tremedous amount to me. They have made a fan of me and that’s not something I take lightly. I give them as much of my and my company’s business as possible.

That is the effect I wish to have on people I interact with. However big or small that impact – I wish to be the type of person who builds fierce loyalty in those the interact with by making them feel valued.

Love,
B